Likud MK: PM Betrayed Public's Trust

Deputy Minister of Transport, MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), launched a surprisingly direct attack on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's leadership Sunday, when she said that he had betrayed the public's trust in releasing terrorist murderers.

In a Knesset Channel interview, MK Hotovely noted that some Likud ministers, like Gilad Erdan and Yisrael Katz, have expressed their opposition to the release of the prisoners, who are in fact "'heavy' terrorists and murderers who received punishment on the basis of a judicial process. This is an expression of disrespect for Israel's judicial system and for its system of deterrence," she said.

In words that were clearly deliberately chosen, Hotovely said that the person responsible for the release was Netanyahu. "I am not ashamed to say that Netanyahu, as prime minister, is the one who bears responsibility, and I want to say more than this: as a prime minister who built an entire public career on combating terror, there is a betrayal of the most basic trust on this issue."

The release of terrorists is "the opposite of a peace process," she said. Saying that the terrorists are being released as part of an attempt to restart the peace process is "an oxymoron," she added.